JERNAIL SINGH ANAND

JERNAIL SINGH ANAND

Actors And Characters

Actors are different from the character

They portray.

And the character is often left behind

For they go over to play different characters.

Am I an actor

Who returns to his original life,

Every evening, and rehearses his words,

And actions for the next day's drama?

They are acting in other plays also

What they play here is only an acquired destiny

Of some unknown character

Born in the imaginative fields of a Shakespeare.

Don't they feel an identity crisis?

So many characters criss-cross on a single consciousness?

One who. Played Oedipus, can he play Macbeth too?

Ohh yes, a true actor can

Who can throw away the mantel of one character after the other

Without making any bones.

I am confused

If life is a play, am I a character or an actor,

Where is an in visible writer

And director ?

Seen nowhere.

Have they trained me so hard

That I look self-driven

As if there is no need for any body ro direct me.

For I can extemporize any situation,

Any dialogue, and look absolutely original.

But alas! It is a drama, and not a film.

Retake is not possible.

I am yet confused i am an actor

Or a character

Or both?

For, joy can be an illusion, but

Suffering? OH suffer is real indeed.

The point at which the actor and the character get confused.

Let Me Listen To My Bones!

What divides us, O Lord,

Is this ‘I’.

How hard is the covering,

How fast the march unto death.

I sing your prayers,

And plunge into my death.

That is the final story

Of human breath.

‘I’ too is your blessing

And I love it too much.

Carry it along

Even to my death’s bed.

I put it back into your arms

And place it in your feet,

When fires reduce

To distance, all the fleet.

Accuse me not, O great Sire!

It was a great weight.

You married me to folly,

And didn’t wait.

I could not convince myself

That all that I saw

Was a mirage

Your ‘Maya’. Mere shadow.

Was it wrong to love your creations?

And, with my mind

Empowered to recreate,

Add to the joy of being and becoming?

I created too much and then

Found myself too busy

Supporting this miasma,

Forgetting, I was a man, not God.

I mistook the artificial structures

For the real,

And thought drama can be

A replacement for reality.

From action I came to show,

To enjoy my creations

And turn big,

Putting on my head, a woolly wig.

Turn off these lights,

So that I can see myself,

Switch off this noise,

And let me listen to my voice.

The Half-Head

I was promised Moksha from day one

And, sent to the ‘dharma land’

With all the powers divine,

And a great brief

To act it out.

I had no doubt in my powers.

I was able to pray,

And converse with the gods,

Who listened to me with rapt attention.

I was a special messenger, on a specific mission.

But as soon as I landed here,

I soon found I was losing my connections

And the gods too would not

Converse with me at my will.

Was I hijacked?

I had seen the winds in human forms 'there',

And mountains too,

I saw vegetation 'here' in heavy growth.

And birds too were 'there' in good numbers.

I asked the cross-beings, about my mission.

Their conversations too were hazy.

They talked in voices

Only partially comprehensible.

I was a half-head,

Given more to scheming than just being.

Even in the midst of the war,

I was found wanting

The Lord had to declaim on duty,

On dharma and human 'karma', [action]

And drive senses back into my head.

Am I a whole body? Or just parts?

Broken and scattered here and there?

Where are my senses?

Where am I?

O Lord! Once again my wits unify.

JERNAIL SINGH ANAND

Dr JERNAIL SINGH ANAND, Ph.D (P.U.Chd) , MBA, D.Litt. and Ph.D, (Honoris Causa), is one of the leading world poets, whom Global Literary Icon Dr. Maja Herman Sekulic has described as: “One of the greatest philosophers among poets, and one of the greatest poets among philosophers." Recently, he was appointed Professor Emeritus in Indian Literature (Hony) at Institute for European Roma Studies and Research, Crimes against Humanity and International Law, Belgrade, Serbia. His reputation as a poet rests mainly on his epics ‘Geet: The Unsung Song of Eternity’[a sequel to John Milton’s ‘The Paradise Lost’ and ‘The Satanic Empire’[a sequel to Dante’s ‘The Divine Comedy’. His work ‘The Ganturbury Tales’ also edges past Chaucer’s ‘The Canterbury Tales’ and tries to recreate the old magic. Hailing from Longowal, [Punjab, India], [b. 1955], Anand acquired his Ph.D degree from Panjab University, Chandigarh, and was honoured with D.Litt. degree by Univ. of South America. And Honorary Degree of Doctor of Philosophy and Mysticism by Institute of European Roma Studies, Belgrade. He has to his credit more than 65 books of English poetry, prose, fiction, nonfiction and spirituality, and 50 research papers whereas 20 research papers were published on his works by Dr Roghayeh Farsi, an Iranian scholar. He has innovated the theory of BIOTEXT(along with Iranian scholar Dr Roghayeh Farsi) and CLOUD SYNDROME in Critical theory and is a refereed author. His works of spirituality 'Bliss:The Ultimate Magic' and 'I Belong to You' have been translated into Persian and published in Iran. Bliss has been compared with Khalil Gibran's 'The Prophet' and his work of poetry, 'Beyond Life Beyond Death' to T.S. Eliot's 'The Wasteland'. Vishwabharati Research Centre has brought out a Companion on Dr J.S. Anand’s work. He has been Secretary General of World Parliament of Literature and Ambassador, World Union of Poets, and President, Galaxy International Foundation for Arts, Philosophy and Social Activism, Honorary Ambassador to Science fiction Academy of Macedonia for India and Director, World Institute of Peace, Nigeria. Dr. Anand has been honoured with various awards: such as Lord of World Peace and Literature, Award of Supreme Excellence [Vishwabharati], Cross of Peace, Cross of Literature, [World Union of Poets Italy], World Icon of Peace [Nigeria], Dr. Mohinder Singh Randhawa Award for Promotion of Art and Culture, Art4Peace Foundation California, Lifetime Achievement Award, World Laureate of Literature, Lifetime Achievement Award by Literati Cosmos Council, Mathura, and most recently African International Poetry Award and Gold Medal of Creativity from International Literary Union, America. He was appointed Ambassador to the Science Fiction Organization of Macedonia, Ambassador of several organizations, and conferred Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Leader in Public Service and Human Rights by World Literary Forum for Peace and Humanity. Dr Anand organized World Poetry Conference at Bathinda Punjab India in Oct 2019. He founded Galaxy International Foundation for which is organizing 2nd World Poetry Conference in Chandigarh India and announced Academy Awards in Literature, Poetry, Fiction and Literary Criticism.